What's most dangerous about hunting

I was reminded recently that perhaps what makes us most vulnerable to accidents and injury when hunting has nothing to do with guns and being in the woods but the trips we must take to get there and back. Because construction often creates backups on I-45 between Huntsville and Houston, I often take old Hwy 45 to avoid the mess. I saw the report earlier this week on social media of the accident detailed at the link below and realize now it happened just a couple hours after I had passed the same point in the highway. It reminded me how vulnerable we are to how other people drive.

With the special Youth Weekend starting tomorrow, drive safe my friends and stay alert.

Four Fatality Accident

Good reminder!

Yes Sir!

Odd that the folks killed in the crash didn’t have ID on them.

Driving is the most dangerous thing we all do every day. Especially with unlicensed / uninsured illegals, texters, & just plain ol distracted drivers.

Over the past five years, the rate of auto related accidents has increased by in excess of 15%. Insurance studies indicate distracted driving is the major culprit. There is evidence out there which suggests using any type of mobile device while driving increases your opportunity for an auto accident by, get this, 400%. Yep, you are four times more likely to have an accident while using a cell phone and that doesn't matter if you are texting, talking directly in to the phone or using hands free. Think about it.

I'm sure that explains why you sometimes see photos of vehicles that have been driven several feet under the back of an 18-wheeler with no evidence of the driver ever having hit the brakes.

Thanks for sharing those statistics.

It’s definitely the most dangerous thing we all do. My wife was rear ended by an illegal in San Antonio on February 16, 2017. It’s ruined our lives. She’s finally having neck fusions on Halloween day. It’s been a nightmare. He was looking at his American girlfriend talking. He was bringing her back from getting a free abortion. She hasn’t had a pain free day since. BE Careful out there!

So sorry RG y’all are in my prayers.

My youngest daughter moved to NYC after college graduation. One of the few positives of that for her Mom and me is she doesn’t have to drive.

My daily prayers have safety on the roads for everyone in my family at the very top of the list.

Throw in long drives that are early/late after a weekend of being out of bed early in the morning.

I am almost always the long trip driver, I drive early/late don't have problems falling asleep etc. but during the season sometimes I have to get my wife to share some of the driving. If she didn't I wouldn't risk it and would have to stop.

My uncle fell asleep and side swiped a vehicle on the way home from a hunting trip recently. I know several people who have issues staying awake driving and im sure its an issue.

That’s awful. I’m sorry for y’all’s troubles.

I’m fed up with illegals driving PERIOD. What kind of an [censored] sneaks illegally into another country & just starts driving around? Most without a license or insurance. We had an illegal in town a month or 2 back run over a lady ona motorcycle & kill her. No license, no insurance, trying to drive across 5 lanes of traffic. Now the lady’s family has nothing.

Driving is probably #1.

I'll add;
If you use a propane heater in a hunting blind crack open a window even if the blind doesn't seal well.

Make sure your propane leak / carbon monoxide detector. / smoke alarm in your travel trailer, cabin or bunkhouse is functioning properly.
If you don't have one or it doesn't function and need propane heat, open a window near your head when you sleep and crack another window somewhere in the structure for a little cross flow.

As much fun as it is, Atv's/Utv's and alcohol don't mix any better off road than driving an on road vehicle after a few.
Running / playing on the county dirt/rock roads so you don't disturb your hunting on atv/utv can be dangerous, especially for unsupervised minors.

Everybody likes a campfire, check for burn bans, most counties allow grilling / cooking if the fire is fully contained in metal. bottom, top all sides, no pit / ground fires.
During cool & cold weather it isn't unusual for a snake to be attracted to heat sources, fire, under warm/hot engines, ground blinds with heaters.

Kinda goes without saying, but, drunk or well buzzed and loaded firearms don't mix.

My deer stand is About 5 minutes from the house by way of black top.
Yet the speed limit is 40 and people do 60-70 constantly. Me and my mom got into a wreck pulling into Our driveway a few years back.
Our road connects two major roads. 1484 and 105.

All great reminders.

Ladders are tough. The ladder used at the lease is usually one no longer good enough for the house. Then we gets on 'em with a bag of corn, lean off them and all else.

Thanks for the thoughts . Also, if you have a hanging feeder, check the cables and connections. One came loose with 250 lbs of corn and landed on me years ago. I was 23 miles from nearest town, six miles from pavement and no phone service. I was out so long buzzards were circling when I came to. Scary deal!

Getting in and out of an elevated stand can be dangerous. It doesn't take much of a fall to break your neck

It used to be filling my feeder. Had to stand on my tailgate, or rear rack of 4 wheeler and lift bags of corn over head, often with wet, muddy boots that were slicker than snot on a door knob. I'll be 57 soon and have decided to stretch my life span every which way I can. Stand and fill feeder has taken the dread out of filling my feeder. 600 lbs a few times per year while standing on God's green earth. I think about this stuff. My dad fell from a tree stand about 45 years ago. Laid on the ground a long time with a broke hip, broke ankle and dislocated shoulder. He said the most dangerous part of it was the ambulance ride from near Bunger on the Brazos River to the hospital in Graham, then his encounter with the game warden in the ER. He had overheard the radio traffic and wanted to be sure he wasn't hunting after dark. Good thing Dad coulnd't get off the gurney. No such thing as professional courtesy between these two for the next 20 years hunting that area.

people are so distracted in todays living its a split second of distraction that can change live for so many people, every one of us sees it every time on the road, back roads are very dangerous also

'Just bought a place on a nice, quiet Ranch Road, but sometimes there's gravel haulers on it and when they make a mistake it's a big one. So far it's just been some "Sorry" waves when they drift over the line headed towards me, but I'm seriously warning my grown kids to be hyper-alert for deer, cars, and especially gravel haulers and be ready to throw it in the ditch at any moment! There's a reason the speed limit is only 60mph on that road; it's deceiving and requires full concentration. Sometimes the most dangerous roads are the ones where you "never see anybody else on it".

Ladders, even in good condition, and men over 50 do not mix well. Our balance deteriorates and we don't want to admit it. My 3 feeders (one's not up yet) are all winch up, but I will be transitioning to stand-and-fill once I get the lay of the land. I just hauled an old ladder to the dump that I found at an old feeder site. This particular "beer lease" hunter, whoever the slob was, had tried to repair one side support with some wire. I've posted earlier that I've donated one of their left tower blinds to "owl habitat", mainly because the top, last step before the floor platform was almost suicide. Any blind for me is either going to be ground or real steps with two handrails. I like to be alone, but I don't wanna die alone.

In the rain last night, I saw 5 serious accidents within a 6 mile stretch near DFW airport😳 Keep you head on a swivel out there👀

Falls for obvious reasons, followed by cuts that result in significant (dangerous} blood loss. Got to be careful with those chain saws and other edged implements out there.

Not sure of the exact statistics but i believe you're 6 times more likely to wreck texting and driving, than driving under the influence of alcohol. It is the absolute most irresponsible decision you could make in your life. Think, every second that passes on the highway your car travels some 80-100 feet. So you look down for one second when your phone goes off and possibly kill somebody.

I have done it- im sure most of us have at least checked a notification on the cellphone behind the wheel. Innocent right? Not the same as texting and driving? That will get you killed, and possibly others too. Driving an 18 wheeler has been an eye opener for me. 99 percent of the time when you see dumbass behavior on the road it is somebody on the phone. You can see right down in the vehicle from a big truck.

Very recently I tried fasting from the phone and internet completely, outside if work and family responsibilities. Too much time on the phone changes you and effects the family. I have spent way too much time on it. We practically worship these little devices. Instant access entertainment.

Lots of good advice and some terrible experiences noted here, be safe.

Saw the report on my local news earlier and this morning there was a follow-up. Three died in the crash and one is in the hospital. A weapon was found in one of the vehicles. Turns out that there was a shooting earlier in Walker county where the suspect vehicle fitting the description was seen leaving on 75. They are going to try to match the weapon found to that shooting. Interesting to see if there is a connection.
Still very tragic for all involved.

Yes, same accident in my OP. Trying to get out of town as quickly as possible is probably what caused the driver to pass on a hill.

Driving in general is likely the most dangerous thing many people do in their lives. It has become a dicey affair to mix it up with all of the no driving idiots who are on the road at any given time, and being on the road for hours at a time only increases the likelihood that something bad is going to happen. One of the problems with many people is they look at driving as a time when they can just chill and communicate with others, catch up with emails, stream the show they missed last night, etc.
Actual safe, defensive driving involves some work and staying focused on the task at hand is sometimes difficult for anyone. Unfortunately, we can't treat driving as a time to relax and simply get where we're going. The idiots have taken care of that for us.

Prayers

My wife discovering I bought a new gun without tellling her a week or so back was pretty dangerous.

There are those who would scold you for telling her. Just follow the "need to know" rules and put her in that "no need to know" group.

Yeah, I thought that was common knowledge. Anyone married for more than a couple of years should already have that down, right?

Because even IF it blows over in a month or so...they NEVER forget.

Sad thing is that I see just as many truck drivers on their damn phones as I do everyone else. Way more than once in just the past year I've had to put it in the ditch to avoid being ran over by an 18 wheeler when traffic was stopping ahead. Twice the car in front of me has been hit. Luckily nothing serious yet. Maybe I'm a magnet for them - but I see it often, especially on highway 80.

Being out in the woods with no toilet paper.